Liang Shiyi (; May 5, 1869 – April 9, 1933) was a Chinese minister who served as premier of China during the

Beiyang government The Beiyang government (), officially the Republic of China (), sometimes spelled Peiyang Government, refers to the government of the Republic of China which sat in its capital Peking ( Beijing) between 1912 and 1928. It was internationally ...

from 1921 to 1922.

Biography

Liang Shiyi was born in

Sanshui Sanshui District, formerly romanized as Samshui, is an urban district of the prefecture-level city of Foshan in Guangdong province, China. It had a population of 622,645 as of the 2010 census. It is known for the " Samsui women", emigrants who la ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

in 1869. In the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

, he was put in charge of railways, the most profitable ministry of the government. This allowed him to create the influential Communications Clique. He was a close supporter of Yuan Shikai, served as his finance minister, and supported Yuan during the National Protection War. After Yuan's death, President

Li Yuanhong Li Yuanhong (; courtesy name Songqing 宋卿) (October 19, 1864 – June 3, 1928) was a Chinese politician during the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China. He was the president of the Republic of China between 1916 and 1917, and between 1922 ...

ordered the arrest of the eight top monarchists of Yuan's regime, this caused Liang to flee to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. He returned in 1918 to run for the National Assembly of the Republic of China. His Communications Clique was a distant second compared to

Duan Qirui Duan Qirui (; ) (March 6, 1865 – November 2, 1936) was a Chinese warlord and politician, a commander of the Beiyang Army and the acting Chief Executive of the Republic of China (in Beijing) from 1924 to 1926. He was also the Premier of the R ...

's Anfu Club but nevertheless he became speaker of the Senate. He then became premier when Jin Yunpeng was forced to resign in December 1921. His month-long premiership was the subject of dispute between his supporter, Marshal

Zhang Zuolin Zhang Zuolin (; March 19, 1875 June 4, 1928), courtesy name Yuting (雨亭), nicknamed Zhang Laogang (張老疙瘩), was an influential Chinese bandit, soldier, and warlord during the Warlord Era in China. The warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to ...

, and his detractor, General

Wu Peifu Wu Peifu or Wu P'ei-fu (; April 22, 1874 – December 4, 1939) was a major figure in the struggles between the warlords who dominated Republican China from 1916 to 1927. Early career Born in Shandong Province in eastern China, Wu initi ...

. When Wu forced his resignation on January 25, 1922, it caused the First Zhili-Fengtian War. Liang was fortunate to avoid the war himself: he left

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

under the excuse of illness as soon as he resigned. The Northern Expedition forced him to flee once again to Hong Kong in 1928, then he shuttled between Shanghai and Hong Kong until the Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931. He died at Shanghai in 1933.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Liang, Shiyi 1869 births 1933 deaths Premiers of the Republic of China Republic of China politicians from Guangdong People from Sanshui District Politicians from Foshan